Here's the story, as sent in by Randy: Furniture Designers' (moi!) girlfriend gets sick of waiting for Boyfriend (moi) to make her a bookshelf.Girlfriend threatens to "go-to-IKEA,-and-put-it-up-myself" !Lightbulb goes off in B.F's head! IKEA HACK!
IKEA Hack: Randy's Girlfriend's Bookshelf
She wants the bookshelf to be taller- it won't stretch.
Looking at the width of the EXPEDIT bookshelf- I realize that steel tubing comes in the same width. 2 inch square.
So, in record time (did I mention the hurry-up-and-RUSH, component?- Girlfriends letting her GalPal use her pad for the holidays!)- I made a Parsons-esque base- bought Home Depot "hockey puck"
Halogens (pack-o-3 =$30.00)- and quickly added a Black Patina finish, with a quick coat of PermaLac sealer.
Then installed it/anchored it to the wall.
I recommended the cube-ettes, Room and Board knock-offs, for $69.00 (from Linens & Things) each versus Room and Board's Leather ones at $499.00...and that's the story!
Thanks to Randy (and his girlfriend) for sharing the details of the project!
Comments (12)
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Looks awesome! The paint and puck lights really take this to the next level!
that is F*ing brilliant.
can you tell us more about the base? welded? are there crossbars?
I love this! It's really genius and I want to make one. How did you assemble the base? Where did you purchase the steel tubing?
The base is made of 2" square, Mild Steel Tubing (use a .125" thick wall for strength!). Working from the final dimensions of The "EXPEDIT", I cut the Steel tubing/1st a frame/same size as bottom of the Bookshelf. Then, after that was welded, added the legs (same 2" square material), added some brackets, hidden in the "well" of the base- to screw the frame to the underside of the EXPEDIT. (also- small detail- so the legs were actually "flush" to the wall- I notched the back of the rear legs to "match" the baseboard).After it was all ground smooth and Surface Conditioned- I applied a Black Patina, neutralized it and the sprayed it w/ a clear Lacquer.
Purrrrty, eh?
it's beautiful, but not quite a do-it-myself project. i think i'll leave it to the experts!
You DIYers are SO dang clever! (and much more ambitious than I would ever be) Great work!
~Monica
Oh by the way! I checked out your web site and I LOVE your stuff! The Pearl sideboard is gorgeous, as is mostly everything else there. Wow.
Hey Randy! make some of those bases and sell them in AT classifieds or craigs? i'm sure there's a market for stuff to enable the broke/cheap cohort trick out our IKEA. I don't know how much it'd have to be to be worth your time/effort--your girlfriend's kind of in unique situation along those lines. your stair rails are amazing. such a nice feature. wonder if you can work with some of these bougie condo places and get them as an add on option. and your birdhouses for hte decks and whatnot.
F-ing BRILLIANT, Bruno! Seena's a lucky duck(so are her books). She's a nice girl(and pretty, too). So marry her already!
Besitos,
Cory
fantastic idea, marge. randy, please do let us know if you ever decide to make these bases and sell them. i would definitely buy one! i'm dying to have something like this for my millions of books.
Hi Lisa and Marge- the things is....I can't make them for anything CLOSE to the price of IKEA's EXPEDIT! if you're still intrigued, and want to order one- feel free to contact me- at randall@kramerdesignstudio*dot*com
Thanks for your generous compliments and kind support!
this is so smart! i love the expedit but always wished they made a taller version, the height just seemed a little odd to me! i wish i knew someone who could weld!!!
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